"No discussion in the dressing room or with me" - Shubman Gill on Rohit Sharma's retirement rumors ahead of IND vs NZ 2025 Champions Trophy Final
Team India vice-captain Shubman Gill addressed rumors about Rohit Sharma's retirement which have surfaced ahead of the all-important 2025 Champions Trophy final. A report by Dainik Jagran mentioned that the Indian skipper will retire if the team fails to win the title against New Zealand at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, March 9.
There has been speculation about Rohit Sharma's future since the fateful 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar series. Although he is under pressure in the red-ball side, he has been in solid touch in ODI cricket, in terms of both batting and captaincy.
The Hitman has delivered in his typical manner, playing with intent to provide the team a healthy start.
Team India's next assignment, after the Champions Trophy, will be a tour of England comprising five Tests from June onwards. They will then face Bangladesh in a white-ball tour in August. In the meantime, Rohit Sharma is slated to play the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) season for the Mumbai Indians (MI).
"No discussion in the dressing room or with me. Even Rohit bhai would be thinking about the Champions Trophy final, like all of us. So nothing like that now. After the match, he will think if there is anything," Gill said in the pre-match press conference ahead of the Champions Trophy final (via RevSportz).
Rohit Sharma announced his T20I retirement immediately after the 2024 T20 World Cup triumph in Barbados. The Hitman has expressed his desire to have a shot at the 2027 ODI World Cup, if possible, especially after India fell short in the 2023 edition at home.
"The pitch is not going to behave differently" - Shubman Gill
A lot has been made about the fact that Team India have played all of their 2025 Champions Trophy matches at the Dubai International Stadium. The prospect of 'unfair advantage' has been dissected left and right by fans and pundits, while India disregards such claims.
Skipper Rohit Sharma mentioned earlier during the tournament that despite playing at the same venue, India often have had to adapt to the surfaces used being different from each other in their own way.
"The pitch is not going to behave differently. Irrespective of hot weather, it will play like as it has in the tournament so far. We haven't seen a score of 300 here. I don't think the weather will play a part," Gill added.
According to reports, the pitch used for the high-profile clash between India and Pakistan on February 23 will be used for the final.